Animation Guild Ratifies New 3-Year Contract

Members of the Animation Guild have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year contract with management. The new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers includes 3% annual increases in contract minimums, no rollbacks and a 10% pension increase for those retiring after August 1, 2015.

The contract covers some 3,100 members of IATSE Local 839 working in various aspects of the animation industry, including writers and directors, storyboard artists, background designers, CGI animators and layout artists. All the major animation companies are signatory to the contract, including Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Fox Animation, Marvel, Universal, Cartoon Network and ABC Studios.

The Animation Guild is part of IATSE but bargains separately. Its new contract follows the contours of the deal the IATSE reached in April, and its New Media provisions are similar to those negotiated recently by the DGA and all the other major guilds and unions.